It’s all about the timing…

Yesterday morning, we noticed that there were some WSSC (water/sewer) trucks parked along the street in front of our house. It was my day off, so I had a list of chores and errands I planned on doing before a predicted “dusting” of snow started. (Note: that “dusting” turned into 6 inches. Here in the Mid-Atlantic where streets are plowed and treated only after the traffic has nicely packed the snowfall into an icy mess. But I digress…)

I spoke to the foreman, who explained that when they did “routine” checks of water mains last summer, that a leak was discovered. But it was only “a small” leak so we were low on the priorities list. Many months later, we made it on to the work list. He assured me it was only “a small” leak and that they would be done in a couple of hours.

Four hours later… I checked in with the team and the initial trench was doubled and then tripled in size because the water main cracked in two additional places while they were digging. Oh – and all of our homes’ water mains had been pulled out of the water main as well. So they had to fix that. I offered them hot beverages and maybe a bathroom break, but he declined, saying that they were doing fine.

Six hours later… they were bringing in a second shift of workers and more jackhammers and trucks. The foreman apologized and said he “hoped” the water would be on by morning. The street was a muddy, muddy mess.

Twelve hours later… they were still jack hammering. I put in my ear plugs and went to bed. Snow was coming (“just a dusting” HA!) and I had work in the morning. I felt sorry for the workers – it was cold and getting colder!

When I first heard the water was going to be off, I did my usual gig – grabbed buckets, filled them and left them by each toilet, and filled a couple of pitchers at the kitchen sink. A couple of hours? no problem. Many more hours? Uh… that could be a problem! Time for a Plan C, D, or E. On his way home, my husband picked up Chinese food and we dined on gourmet paper plates.

As I watched the men work and did some cleaning up of Christmas decorations, I was struck by the timing… Just a few days ago, we had a houseful of folks, deadlines and timelines to meet, and all kinds of laundry, dishes and baking going on. Having a water main shut down then would have been a serious pain.